


there's magic in the dark

by dreamsheartstory



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Foursome - F/F/F/F, Multi, Polyamory, and so much angst, art gallery, but coffee shop art gallery vibes, but like it all works out in the end, depression and anxiety are a bitch, secret magic underworld
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-17 16:27:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28977375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsheartstory/pseuds/dreamsheartstory
Summary: When Clarke gets a new job at Luna's art gallery she isn't expecting to fall for the hot security guard Lexa, nor did she mean to break her best friend, and roommate, Raven's, heart. But matters are only complicated when Luna invites Raven to show her art at the gallery. Raven's only really shared it with Clarke before, and for good reason. The secret behind her gif-like animations isn't computer code, but magic.
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Lexa, Clarke Griffin/Lexa/Raven Reyes/Luna, Clarke Griffin/Luna, Clarke Griffin/Raven Reyes, Lexa/Luna (The 100), Lexa/Raven Reyes, Luna/Raven Reyes
Comments: 4
Kudos: 26





	1. A Snapshot at the End

**Author's Note:**

> This AU is hurt/comfort with a side of magic and fluff. Working towards a polycule of Raven/Clarke/Luna/Lexa. There's a strong chance I might just post snippets and one shots within the AU. If things get out of order I'll try to make some semblance of a timeline with the chapter titles.

Floudon was an art gallery on the corner of Tree and Ark Streets. Even at night the floor to ceiling windows glowed, giving the world a glimpse of the art inside, the treasures that the owner had found. Luna had a way of finding the art on the fringes, the unexpected. She skirted the current that beat under the heart of Polis, tipping herself into fortune just as the world was ready to open up.  
Hanging on in the front window of the gallery, encased in a glass and metal frame, a photograph of a woman flickered gently. Her back was to the camera, a coy drop of her robe off her shoulders revealing a cascade of muscle. A thin galaxy dotted across her spine. Her hair framed the silhouette of her face, turned to the side in profile as if she were suspended in a moment of reflection. A small smile curled the corner of her mouth, a lover having just whispered in her ear.  
She held a secret in the way she held herself, gaze fixed on a single red leaf, the bright splotch of color on the canvas. She looked a fraction away from breathing as if she had been caught between, paused. If you waited long enough you would see her move.  
The image flickered, and the woman’s eyes opened.


	2. Comfort - Raven

Magic wasn’t real like the world wanted to believe it was. It was subtler, lonelier, and much more painful. And there was nothing to be done with it to fix the empty hole in Raven’s soul where her heart had been.  
When she was nine the family dog had died and later that week she discovered that she wasn’t like other people. There was no one in her family that could do what she had done. She learned to keep to herself to keep herself safe.  
It had been late at night as Raven had lain curled in her bed, a photo of her recently deceased dog clutched in her tiny hands. She had wished as she cried, her tears dripping onto the paper in a silent prayer that she might see her best friend alive again.  
She hadn’t quite got her wish but when she looked at the photo next it had animated, the image of her dog running to and fro there between the white borders, silently barking, happy as could be.  
Raven had stuffed the photo under her mattress and told no one. No one except Clarke who had found it during a sleepover six years later. Since then she had done small illusions but kept her so called gift a secret. Clarke knowing felt like a risk, but one she didn’t have a choice in taking. But having Clarke there, a confidant and friend, was maybe what kept her sane.  
Her magic wasn’t useful like the magic whispered about on the streets. She couldn’t make plants grow, or charm a person. She couldn’t heal wounds or find water. She couldn’t call up flames or sing a song to soothe a soul.  
All Raven could do was animate images, and today she failed to do even that. Maybe the rumors that there could be more, that magic was seeping back into the world, were nothing at all.  
Raven clutched at a photo of her abuela, the woman who had raised her while her father had worked two jobs. Her mother, she hadn’t known, dead as soon as Raven arrived in the world. And now, her abuela was gone as well.  
Pain welled in her chest so hot and thick that she thought she wouldn’t choke on it. She pushed her magic into it, tried to massage the edges into motion. Raven ripped open her own heart and offered up a piece of herself to give that spark of life. The image remained still, a young image of her abuela smiling up at her.  
Raven pitched forward, silent screams choking her as tears flooded in waves down her cheeks. Snot mingled with the tears and her throat felt as if it might tear in two from the strain of the silent scream.  
She pressed the heels of her hands into her eyes. The thick edge of the photograph cut into the skin of her forehead. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t bring her abuela to life in the way she had her dog all those years ago. No matter how much pain built inside her she couldn’t turn it into a small comfort. She couldn’t turn it into anything.  
For a moment she wished she had never learned she had any sort of magic at all, maybe then her pain would be less. Maybe then she could breath.  
But nothing would ever be the same again.  
The door to her studio opened and closed softly behind someone. Raven knew it was Clarke, her best friend, her roommate, her something that she couldn’t describe. It was always Clarke, the only one she could trust.  
If only that were enough.  
Clarke took the photo gently from her hands, “I don’t think you can improve on this one Raven.”  
Her voice was gentle. Raven leaned into her, letting Clarke’s arms wrap around her, warm and familiar. The sideways lean is always awkward and Raven shuffles down so she can lay her head in Clarke’s lap instead.  
“Give it time,” Clarke whispered as she stroked Raven’s hair.  
A pang of guilt wells up, Raven had been less than helpful when Clarke lost her father. Jake’s death had been sudden and unexpected. They’d been teenagers then and Raven had never really been good with words.  
Pictures, yes, but words, not so much.  
Raven rolled onto her back and wiped at her eyes as she sniffled, trying to force herself into some semblance of calm. Her voice stuck in her throat, thick like snot or sludge, sticking to her insides. She coughed and curled to her side, hiding her face against Clarke’s stomach.  
The hem of Clarke’s shirt was coming undone and Raven rolled the edges of it between her fingertips. Clarke raked her hand through Raven’s hair, gently untangling the knots. When it was tangle free and loose she started in on tiny braids, something to keep her hands busy. She’d do one and unravel it. Sometimes when Clarke was thinking she’d put Raven’s hair up in some kind of intricate looping braid, but today they both just needed the moment together.  
“Can we…?” Raven let the start of the question hang between them. It wasn’t the first time the question had been asked between them and it wasn’t the first time Raven had asked it. “I don’t want to think about the pain anymore. For a little while I want to forget.”  
Clarke nodded as she brushed tears from Raven’s cheeks with her thumbs. A moment later Clarke was leaning back and tugging Raven on top of her. A gentle brush of lips and Raven locked away everything else. The pain and the turmoil, just her best friend’s skin beneath her hands and the sweet taste of her mouth.  
They’d always been a little more than friends, a little less than lovers. The timing never worked out, they never wanted to risk losing what they had but there were always times when it felt like the world aligned for them.


End file.
